A Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON), including an enhanced Optical Line Termination (OLT) and Optical Network Units (ONUs), provides enhanced features, e.g., features defined in XG-PON. One or more of the ONUs are enhanced ONUs. The enhanced OLT communicates with the ONUs via downstream frames and upstream bursts, each downstream frame and upstream burst being compliant with a GPON framing format. The enhanced OLT transmits downstream frames to the ONUs, the downstream frames including downstream sub-frames with at least one downstream sub-frame being an overhead sub-frame that includes information of the enhanced features. The enhanced OLT receives upstream bursts from the ONUs, the upstream bursts including upstream sub-frames, each upstream sub-frame including an upstream identifier field that indicates to the enhanced OLT whether the upstream sub-frame is an overhead sub-frame. The enhanced OLT and the enhanced ONUs perform network operations to provide the enhanced features specified in the overhead sub-frame.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method for providing enhanced features in a Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON) that comprises an enhanced Optical Line Termination (OLT) and a plurality of Optical Network Units (ONUs), the plurality of ONUs further comprising enhanced ONUs and legacy ONUs, wherein the enhanced OLT communicates with the plurality of ONUs via downstream frames and upstream bursts, each of the downstream frames and upstream bursts being compliant with GPON standards, the method comprising the steps of: transmitting from the enhanced OLT the downstream frames to the plurality of ONUs, the downstream frames including downstream sub-frames with at least one of the downstream sub-frames being an overhead sub-frame that includes information of the enhanced features, wherein each of the downstream sub-frames includes a downstream identifier field that indicates to the plurality of ONUs whether the downstream sub-frame is the overhead sub-frame, wherein the overhead sub-frame is recognizable by the enhanced ONUs and transparent to the legacy ONUs; receiving by the enhanced OLT the upstream bursts from the plurality of ONUs, the upstream bursts including upstream sub-frames, each of the upstream sub-frames including an upstream identifier field that indicates to the enhanced OLT whether the upstream sub-frame is the overhead sub-frame; and performing network operations by the enhanced OLT and the enhanced ONUs to provide the enhanced features specified in the overhead sub-frame.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the upstream identifier field and the downstream identifier field has a designated value recognizable by the enhanced ONUs and not by the legacy ONUs, and the designated value is different from values recognizable by one or more destination ONUs of the plurality of ONUs for identifying a traffic flow to one or more destination ONUs.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the designated value is provisioned to each of the enhanced ONUs through management actions when the enhanced ONU is initialized into the GPON.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the overhead sub-frame contains a header that includes the downstream identifier field or the upstream identifier field, and a payload that contains the information of the enhanced features.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the overhead sub-frame is transmitted once per downstream frame and once per upstream burst.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the downstream frames and the upstream bursts includes more than one overhead sub-frame.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the overhead sub-frame is a GPON encapsulation method (GEM) frame.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the enhanced features include one or more of a set of features defined in a 10 Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (XG-PON).
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the enhanced features include one or more of the following: transmission of multiple PLOAM messages per downstream frame, transmission of multiple PLOAM messages per upstream burst, transmission of a PLOAM message without repetition, encryption control in both upstream and downstream directions, multicast encryption control, ONU authentication, key update, sleep and doze modes, performance monitoring and alarms, and longer framing patterns than the framing patterns defined in a legacy GPON that does not support the enhanced features.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of receiving further comprises the steps of: receiving a first set of upstream bursts from the enhanced ONUs and a second set of upstream bursts from the legacy ONUs, the first set of upstream bursts comprising one or more overhead sub-frames and the second set of upstream bursts comprising no overhead sub-frames; processing the first set of upstream bursts to implement the enhanced features; and processing the second set of upstream bursts without implementing the enhanced features.
11. A network element functioning as an enhanced Optical Line Termination (OLT) for implementing enhanced features in a Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON) that comprises the enhanced OLT and a plurality of Optical Network Units (ONUs), the plurality of ONUs further comprising enhanced ONUs and legacy ONUs, wherein the enhanced OLT communicates with the plurality of ONUs via downstream frames and upstream bursts, each of the downstream frames and upstream bursts being compliant with GPON standards, the network element comprising: a transmitter to transmit the downstream frames to the plurality of ONUs, the downstream frames including downstream sub-frames with at least one of the downstream sub-frames being an overhead sub-frame that includes information of the enhanced features, wherein each of the downstream sub-frames includes a downstream identifier field that indicates to the plurality of ONUs whether the downstream sub-frame is the overhead sub-frame, wherein the overhead sub-frame is recognizable by the enhanced ONUs and transparent to the legacy ONUs; a receiver to receive the upstream bursts from the plurality of ONUs, the upstream bursts including upstream sub-frames, each of the upstream sub-frames including an upstream identifier field that indicates to the enhanced OLT whether the upstream sub-frame is the overhead sub-frame; and a processor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver to perform network operations to thereby provide the enhanced features specified in the overhead sub-frame.
12. The network element of claim 11 , wherein each of the upstream identifier field and the downstream identifier field has a designated value recognizable by the enhanced ONUs and not by the legacy ONUs, and the designated value is different from values recognizable by one or more destination ONUs of the plurality of ONUs for identifying a traffic flow to one or more destination ONUs.
13. The network element of claim 11 , wherein the overhead sub-frame contains a header that includes the downstream identifier field or the upstream identifier field, and a payload that contains the information of the enhanced features.
14. The network element of claim 13 , wherein the designated value is provisioned to each of the enhanced ONUs through management actions when the enhanced ONU is initialized into the GPON.
15. The network element of claim 11 , wherein the overhead sub-frame is a GPON encapsulation method (GEM) frame.
16. The network element of claim 11 , wherein the enhanced features include one or more of a set of features defined in a 10 Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (XG-PON).
17. The network element of claim 11 , wherein the enhanced features include one or more of the following: transmission of multiple PLOAM messages per downstream frame, transmission of multiple PLOAM messages per upstream burst, transmission of a PLOAM message without repetition, control of encryption in both upstream and downstream directions, multicast encryption control, ONU authentication, key update, sleep and doze modes, performance monitoring and alarms, and longer framing patterns than the framing patterns defined in a legacy GPON that does not support the enhanced features.
18. A network element functioning as an enhanced Optical Network Unit (ONU) for implementing enhanced features in a Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (GPON) that comprises an enhanced Optical Line Termination (OLT) and a plurality of Optical Network Units (ONUs), the plurality of ONUs further comprising legacy ONUs and the enhanced ONU, wherein the enhanced OLT communicates with the plurality of ONUs via downstream frames and upstream bursts, each of the downstream frames and upstream bursts being compliant with GPON standards, the network element comprising: a receiver to receive the downstream frames from the enhanced OLT, the downstream frames including downstream sub-frames with at least one of the downstream sub-frames being an overhead sub-frame that includes information of the enhanced features, wherein each of the downstream sub-frames includes a downstream identifier field that indicates to the plurality of ONUs whether the downstream sub-frame is the overhead sub-frame, wherein the overhead sub-frame is recognizable by the enhanced ONUs and transparent to the legacy ONUs; a transmitter to transmit the upstream bursts to the enhanced OLT, the upstream bursts including upstream sub-frames, each of the upstream sub-frames including an upstream identifier field that indicates to the enhanced OLT whether the upstream sub-frame is the overhead sub-frame; and a processor coupled to the transmitter and the receiver to perform network operations to thereby provide the enhanced features specified in the overhead sub-frame.
19. The network element of claim 18 , wherein the overhead sub-frame contains a header that includes the downstream identifier field or the upstream identifier field, and a payload that contains the information of the enhanced features.
20. The network element of claim 18 , wherein the downstream identifier field or the upstream identifier field of each of the overhead sub-frame has a designated value known to the enhanced OLT and the enhanced ONU.
21. The network element of claim 20 , wherein the designated value is provisioned to the enhanced ONU through management actions when the enhanced ONU is initialized into the GPON.
22. The network element of claim 18 , wherein the overhead sub-frame is a GPON encapsulation method (GEM) frame.
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September 19, 2011
October 1, 2013
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